Rather than continuing to heavily pollute the air and fund Arab governments by
using fuel oil, more Israelis will soon be able to turn to natural gas to power
their automobiles, the Energy and Water Ministry said on
Monday.

“Citizens of the Western world, and we among them, suffer from an
addiction to black gold, which pollutes the environments, and some of whose
revenues stimulate Islamic terrorism,” Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau
said. “Israel gas discoveries open for us a window to fight this
addiction.”

While compressed natural gas is already available for certain
cars in Israel, the ministry recently initiated an Israeli standard on
propelling vehicles with the substance, which would enable its use on a more
regulated, widespread level, the ministry said.

Simultaneously, the
ministry is working on the publication of a second Israeli standard to deal with
refueling stations that distribute natural gas. The ministry expressed
confidence that the two standards would soon become official.

Standards
are documents stating technical specifications for products to ensure that they
are suited for their intended purpose, according to the Standards
Institute.

After being approved by the Standards Institute, a standard is
voluntary, until the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry determines that all or
part of it is binding, usually on the basis of elements such as public health,
safety and environmental quality. Then it becomes an official
standard.

From a strategic perspective – in which Israel seeks to
diversify its breadth of energy resources, reduce its dependence on crude oil
and reap the benefits of its recent natural gas discoveries – using natural gas
to power cars will be extremely beneficial, according to the ministry.

In
establishing these new standards, Israel will become one of only a few countries
with two complementary standards on ensuring the quality and safety of
compressed natural gas – one for handling the product, the gas, and the second
for fueling stations, the ministry said.

Because building gas stations
requires comprehensive planning and licensing procedures, once the standards are
complete, renovations will be made on existing natural gas refueling stations
under the framework of National Master Plan 18, the ministry explained. This
way, the standards will enable both the establishment of new stations as well as
their integration with existing gas fueling stations.

“The State of
Israel, with and without connection to the Western world, must achieve for
itself independence in everything that is related to fuel that powers a vehicle.
We are committed to doing our part in this struggle, because it is in our soul,”
Landau said.

“Oil is a powerful weapon. And liberation from it is
a demanding struggle. This war for independence can triumph without firing a
single bullet.”